Los Angeles City Councilman Gil Cedillo, the most vulnerable incumbent on the ballot Tuesday, appeared to have narrowly avoided a runoff by winning 51% of the vote.

“We took advantage of our advantages — experience matters — and we had faith,” Cedillo said after midnight Wednesday at his election night party at the Ebell Club in Highland Park.

All night long, as more votes were counted, Cedillo had been losing share, and most attendees had left the party believing that Cedillo was headed to a May runoff against his top challenger, bike activist Joe Bray-Ali.

Mar. 8, 2017, 1:39 a.m.

A sign urging support for Measure H, the countywide sales tax increase to benefit anti-homelessness efforts, inside the Inner City Law Center on skid row. (David McNew / Getty Images)

A quarter-cent sales tax increase in Los Angeles County to fund anti-homelessness measures appeared to earn the two-thirds majority needed for passage early Wednesday, with 100% of county precincts reporting.

Measure H would generate about $355 million annually for homeless programs over 10 years, backers say. The increase would raise the sales tax rate to 9% across most of Los Angeles County and up to 10% in a few communities.

It would be the second phase of a two-step fundraising strategy developed by the city and county. Los Angeles city voters approved a $1.2-billion bond measure in November to provide supplemental funding for 10,000 units of permanent housing with support services for the chronically homeless.

Mar. 8, 2017, 12:11 a.m.

Incumbent Mike Bonin fended off two campaign challengers and appears likely to avoid a runoff in City Council District 11.

Bonin faced two candidates who hit him hard on issues surrounding homelessness and development in his Westside district. With more than 20% of precincts reporting, he was well ahead early Wednesday, with 70% of the vote.

"I see [the results] as an affirmation of the work I've done and the progress we've made," he said. "On little things that matter to neighborhoods like fixing roads and parks and bigger things that matter to the whole city like increasing the minimum wage."

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Mar. 7, 2017, 11:51 p.m.

Council District 7 candidate Monica Rodriguez began her election day at 5 a.m.

She only stopped knocking on doors when it became too dark for her to be able to read the addresses on her voter sheet. And she didn't stop making calls until five minutes from when the polls closed at 8 p.m.

As of late Friday, Rodriguez was leading a packed field of 20 candidates vying for the only vacant council seat this election cycle. With just over 36% of precincts reporting, it appears she will face Karo Torossian in a mid-May runoff.

Mar. 7, 2017, 11:13 p.m.

In a 15-minute address to supporters Tuesday night, Mayor Eric Garcetti declared victory in his reelection campaign, but said, "We have a lot more left to do."

"While other people are talking about doing big things, Los Angeles, we are doing big things," Garcetti said, citing the city's push to house its homeless, his efforts to cut the business tax and L.A.'s support of immigrants.

Garcetti said it's an "urgent moment" in the city and the nation's history and it's up for Los Angeles to show the world what "American values look like."

Los Angeles City Councilman Gil Cedillo said he was feeling optimistic he would score an outright victory and avoid a runoff by winning more than 50% of the vote on Tuesday.

“I like where we’re at,” he said in an interview with The Times at his election-night party at the Ebell Club in Highland Park.

With 28% of the vote counted, Cedillo had 53% of the vote, while his closest rival — bike activist Joe Bray-Ali — had 33%. But if Bray-Ali and two lesser-known challengers can push Cedillo below 50%, the top two vote getters would face off in a May runoff election.